Monday, October 27, 2008

Punkin carvin' time

Albertson's certainly let everybody know that October is the time to buy your pumpkin. Look at the size of certain of those overgrown squash, will ya? I'm impressed. However, not enough to plan on carving one; I haven't done that since I was a little girl. When the dotter was of the appropriate age, her Evanston grandmother not only took charge of the jack o'lantern operation, but also baked yummy pies with the inards.

Albertson's also was selling decals the day I went shopping -- a cop-out if ever I saw one. Besides, with no holes in the rind, there's no reason for a candle. But then, what would be reason for the pumpkin in the first place? On the other hand, the special plastic pumpkins at Watters (below) can definitely be carved, tho I've no idea how well they would hold up to the heat of a candle inside.

Even without a scary face, the bright orange does make for neat displays, at homes (above) or in front of an downtown antiquery (below).

Of course, during October, pumpkin art abounds, whether flags (above) at JBs or a pair of objets along Cortez Street (below).

Far more upscale: this pair of art pumpkins in the window of Creative Interiors on Gurley.

However, there's a bittersweet taste in my mouth as I write about the rites of autumn. The picture above should remind us of years past at the Young's Farm pumpkin festival, which came to an sad end, thanks in part to the big housing bubble. Ironically, the Dewey-Humbolt folks still haven't figured out the zoning for the parcel that once was the farm and at this point in the business cycle, who knows when M3 might get around to breaking ground. If ever. The last time I heard any news, a farmer was renting the land to grow corn. Just like the Young family, but without a festival. Anybody been to the fall events on farms up in Chino?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the mosaic pumpkin!

Alas, we have no pumpkin patches here in Alaska; anyways, it's almost 0F right now, so I'd guess they'd get frozen. Wah.

Yeah, I miss Young's and our annual trek.

Anonymous said...

I don't see many pumpkins in the hamlet this year. I didn't set one out, but if anyone stops by, I offer some sweets.

Kim said...

Oh, the news about Young's Farm is so sad. That depresses me, I thought they were one arm that would be around for a while. Pretty soon we won't have any family farms left :(

Kim said...

I wish we could go back and edit typos afterward. They are not an arm, they are a farm!

TomboCheck said...

Man do I miss Young's farm. They had the best turkey sausage!

Haven't been to Windmill Farms in chino yet. One of these days...

Granny J said...

dotter -- I sure miss it-- and the family, too!

steve -- do they grow pumpkins in Bavaria? Or is it like Australia, where I guess any kind of winter squash qualifies as a pumpkin, per my bro.

kim -- you must not have been around these parts for several years. There were campaigns to save Young's, but unfortunately, it is state policy that farms use more water in irrigation than the same acres in roofs -- so Young's had to go! We still have a few family farms up in Chino, but the powers that be seem determined to pave the sides of the main highways with 'burbs from Tucson (or the border) all the way to I40.

Tombo -- I believe that Collier's also had pumpkin picking again this year. I guess Windmill has facilities open to the public much of theyear.

Granny J said...

steve -- I forgot to ask: what do you think your squirrels would do with a pumpkin, esp.if you left some of the seeds inside?

Anonymous said...

Grrrrrr the whole AZ water, M3, Young's Farm issue still really ticks me off.

I remember the fresh (not frozen) Young's Farm turkey I roasted one Thanksgiving... 19 lbs. big! A neighbor gave it to me; such a wonderful gift.

Sigh.

~Anon in AV.

Granny J said...

anon av -- there are just lots of people who are thoroughly ticked off by the whole bloody affair!

 
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